Category: Beauty & Fashion

So I was going to do individual posts for each of these products and then I figured I could probably squeeze them into one post. I decided that I wanted to share some of my favourite products after I actually finished them all. We live in a society where we mass consume and try different things without actually sometimes finishing a product. I didn’t want to do that since I’m trying to reduce the amount I consume and I try to recycle each product container and packaging properly.

I’m also trying to more conscious about what I put on my body and what I use, although sometimes the more conscious products aren’t so “conscious”price wise. I do try to find drugstore dupes especially when I know I can’t afford the expensive stuff that I love.

One of my favourite products by-far that I have used this year is the Saje Exotic Crystal Fresh Deodorant (Saje Exotic Deodorant), which I absolutely love not only because it’s a crystal spray but because of how protected I feel and I can reapply if I need to by just spraying. My favourite part of this is the scent. It has vanilla, lavender, sandalwood and rosewood but to me all of this makes it smell like rosemary which I really like. I think the important thing about this is that when I do begin to sweat, it doesn’t start smelling like deodorant like most drugstore ones and I can’t stand the smell of them. It just smells fresh and it’s not so overpowering.

One of my skin favourites this year, that not only felt good on my skin but saved my skin from all elements and helped heal my sunburn from Mexico was the Aquasource Deep Serum from Biotherm. Not only did my skin feel a lot better, I noticed my skin was looking a lot better too. Since I suffer from cystic acne, some products tend to irritate my skin a lot more making it harder for them to heal. This product really soothed and left my skin feeling happy and dewy. It was great to wear underneath makeup or on its own. I just loved how my face drank it up and it felt so good.

I used the deep serum in the mornings which meant I needed to find something to put on at night. I wanted to pair it with something that really would help my skin at night and wake up feeling soft, good and glowy. I really enjoyed using my Sephora points and getting this sample of High Potency Night-A-Mins Mineral-Enriched Renewal Cream which lasted me a good four months. It’s one of those products you don’t need a lot of. It was a nice thick consistency, I would apply it after cleansing my face and right before bed. My face loved this too. It really did help my skin a lot especially when it got super dry or when my face looked quite tired and dull. I really liked pairing it with the Biotherm serum. Unfortunately, I can’t afford both of these products now, so I have to find something that does the job of these two products.

OGX Coconut Milk Shampoo & Conditioner

Lastly, my favourite hair care products. I remember trying Ogx body lotions and absolutely loving it. So I decided to try their shampoo and conditioner line. I decided to go for their Nourishing Coconut Milk line. During the summer, this was my favourite hands down. I just felt like I was a walking tropical vacation. My hair smelled glorious and it felt really nice and soft. I used it alongside my coconut oil on most days to really get it looking healthy and strong. The only issue is that I had to squeeze it out most of the time and I sometimes don’t like having to spend so long to get out the right amount for my hair. Other than that, I loved this shampoo and I can’t wait to finish this other brand I bought so I can go back to this one or even try another one of their lines.

So I hope you found this super helpful. Of course, this all my opinion and my experience with them was actually wonderful. I can’t say that you’ll all share the same view as mine but i just thought I’d spread the review love on some pretty good products. If anyone has some good recommendations, feel free to comment below!

Okay okay, so I know I’m not really good at keeping up with my reviews on products but I’m going to try to do them once in awhile. I’m really big on trying new things on my skin because my skin tends to suck. Since the weather is super chilly, my skin tends to dry up faster and look dull in this type of weather so I try to keep it looking alive.

So the product that I had been wanting to try for quite some time because you tubers were raving about it has been the Rosy Cheeks Fresh Face Mask by Lush. According to the website and the staff at Lush, it’s supposed to calm and soothe the skin and clean away impurities. For me, I just wanted to see if it would liven up my skin while cleaning it. It has no exfoliating products in it but I find that it left my skin feeling super smooth, soft and quite radiant.

I think my favourite part of this product was the rosy scent and the fact that it’s a blush colour. I just felt like I was caressing my face with roses while putting it on. I absolutely loved the product and it really just made me happy. I have sensitive skin so I found that this was perfect for my type of skin that tends to go crazy in cold weather.

I’d definitely recommend it to everyone with all kinds of skin tones–don’t use if you have allergies to some of the ingredients. I really thought I’d have a reaction since I sometimes use other masks (not the Lush ones I’ve tried) that make my face go red (not that cute rosy look) and spotty. This one didn’t do that at all. (Here’s the link, so that you can check out the ingredients Rosy Cheeks | Masks | Lush)

When I do facials, I leave them on for 10-15 minutes while I watch youtube videos. After I’ve waited long enough and scared my family, I like to wash it off with lukewarm water and a nice clean towel before using my toner and then applying serum and night cream! It leaves the skin quite refreshed in the morning!

I also won’t complain about the price, I think that’s pretty decent, it’s too bad that they don’t last that long though. I think you only get 2-3 weeks of usage before it expires and I don’t have that many facials in between so I find that it can be a waste if it’s only one person using it. BUT I can’t wait to go get another tub of it and some other Lush products!

I’ve never actually written a review before, so I’m extremely nervous at how it may go. Recently, my body and skin has gone haywire, I’ve always suffered from cystic acne but this time around it’s pretty bad and my whole body has reacted weird to different products. Someone told me, I could have a lot of toxins in my system, so I decided to start purchasing toxin-free products and reducing the amount of ‘bad’ food that I eat. Since I like make-up, lotions and all of those kinds of products, I decided to give this deodorant a try. It’s from Rocky Mountain Soap Co, a company that aims to make their products toxin free and with natural products. I love that, as a society we tend to use a lot of chemically produced products that can have terrible effects on our bodies and skin. I would know, I have sensitive skin and I can’t apply to much on it or else it gets bad. I’ve decided to detox my body, but I also don’t want to look scary because of my skin or smell bad by using other products that are natural but don’t last too long.

I was quite hesitant because I’ve tried other liquid crystal deodorants and they didn’t protect for long periods of time. I actually don’t have that problem with their deodorant. It’s reasonably priced, around $8.50, I chose lemongrass because I think it’s the most energizing and invigorating smell out there. I gave it the ultimate test–wearing it to the gym. I thought it was going to not make it through the hour gym session but to my surprise, there was no sweaty, smelly pits. I could only smell the lemongrass, which was great. I’ve been using it for about two weeks and I’m just really impressed with it. My pits are even starting to look better and not so dark anymore which is great because summer is just around the corner and I’ve always had really ugly pits. So I’m thinking it had to do with all the chemicals I was putting on them. This was my first purchase ever and I will continue to buy it because I just love it. I’m super excited to keep trying more of their products.

This post will definitely be unlike my other posts, I wanted to switch it up a bit. So here is a skin care blog post that you might benefit from. Fall & Winter are my favourite seasons, but the only thing about them that I dislike is my issue with dry and flaky skin. I’m sure that most of us suffer from this and it can get annoying when you want to apply make up for events and dinners or just not have dull and flaky skin.

So I decided to just discuss what I do to keep my skin looking fresh and healthy. Here are some tips that are pretty basic but work wonders, so here they are:

1. Drink Water. This is one of the things that people forget to do. It gets cold, we think that we don’t need to drink water.It is important that you continue to drink your 8 glasses of water each day. This really helps keep your skin looking nice and fresh. Plus it is important to keep your internal systems functioning. If you get bored of drinking water, I’d recommend drinking green tea which is also great for you and helps keep you warm.

2. Exfoliate. Every morning when I Shower, I exfoliate my whole body and I also use a face exfoliator for my face. I usually use an exfoliation pad or body scrub on my body.This helps not only with removing dry and dead skin off your body but it also helps with circulation of blood. I tend to use Olay for my face every other day, Cliniques’ mild facial soap every day on an exfoliation pad or my Biotherm milk lotion. (I tend to use Biotherm mostly in the Summer). On my body, I use the Bath & Body Works Honey Lavender Body scrub and body wash. It is such a lovely smell and the scrub works wonders and this one doesn’t irritate my skin like most scented scrubs! Of course, you can use your favourite products. Another thing I do is exfoliate my lips. My lips are always dry so exfoliating them with a sugar scrub keeps them nice and plump. There are many products for this–I usually use Lush bubble gum sugar lip scrub but it can get pricey so I have opted for a much cheaper version and I use the Elf lip exfoliator. It works wonders and saves me a couple of bucks.

3.Moisturize. So right after I step out of the shower, I pat myself dry and grab my Palmers cocoa butter skin therapy oil, Clinique moisturizer and my argan Oil Lotion. I mix my argan oil lotion with the cocoa butter oil and put that all over my body and then use my face moisturizer and the cocoa butter oil on my face. I’ve heard it can be iffy putting oils on your face but I find that once I do, my face loves it. I always put on vaseline on my lips and that keeps them from drying up. Finding a lotion that is perfect for you is always fun. I always carry lotions because I do tend to dry up once I step outside. A bonus is that it keeps my face nice and helps my make up looking great!

4.Eat Healthy. Keeping a nicely balanced diet is also important. I suffer from cystic acne and terribly eczema but eating great and maintaining a skin routine allows me to keep that in check. Plus you feel great during the holidays.

5.Work out. Yes, It’s the holidays and you don’t feel like doing anything else but going to parties, shopping and indulging in those delicious sweets. Working out = healthy skin. By sweating, you are removing bacteria and toxins that are harmful to your body. Plus who doesn’t like that glowing face after a work out. Well, to be honest I look like a red tomato after I work out but my skin feels so good right after.

My Winter Essentials

Although, it sounds pretty basic, we tend to forget the basics. It is important to have a good foundation before moving forward. I dislike it when my make up looks icky because I have dry, flaky skin. So I try to follow this routine every day and I can always see a difference. I also switch up my products depending on the season because our bodies might work a little bit different in the summer than it does in the winter. Anyways, I hope you liked this blog post.

So I’ve always been into fashion, everything about it attracts me. Well, the price tag sometimes holds me back. As a full-time student and barely making ends meet sometimes, shopping isn’t a priority but it makes me happy. I have always loved fashion, I wanted to be a fashion designer when I was in high school. I think clothing allow for expression, it can be wacky, simple, or exciting. It never disappoints. I’ll follow trends or do my own thing, it’s always fun to do that.

Here are some helpful tips on how to be a fashionista:

1. Buy what you want— Who cares about what the pictures in magazines say, trends are trends. Buy what appeals to you on the racks.

2. Be comfortable & confident–So what I mean is dress the way you want and flaunt. These days everyone is body shaming, saying girls are too skinny, too fat, too tall, too short. I think people need to shut up. We all come in different shapes and sizes, they are all beautiful. Dress in what makes you happy, what YOU think represents you, what makes you smile. Every thing else is just an opinion. Don’t dress to impress anyone but yourself, that will radiate outwards. Don’t listen to negative comments. I had an ex boyfriend who “stopped” me from dressing up saying he didn’t like it when I did that, when I wore make up because I was going to get attention from other people, when he took that away from me, I was so unhappy. Don’t let someone change you because of their insecurities. When people judge you for what you wear, it’s their insecurities that are speaking.

3. Spend what you want–I can’t tell you how to live your life. Spend as little, a lot. It doesn’t matter. I usually set a budget for myself on how much I want to spend. The last shopping spree was a max of $500 dollars. I went through my closet first, made sure what I needed and what I didn’t. You can buy high street fashion or find the same pieces for much cheaper from a different store. I usually do a mix and match of both. I like saving in certain areas and just take really good care of my clothes.

4. Make it your own–I usually get inspired by a pin on Pinterest, or a photo from Instagram. My fashion icons are a fictional character (Blair Waldorf) and a licensed optician from Vancouver (Sue Randhawa). They are both different and they have their signature pieces and that’s what I like to do too! I may not put ribbons in my hair or wear extremely stylish glasses but I’ll find a cute pair of tights or accessories to make that inspiration my own. Don’t be afraid to try different things. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match or “work”, if it makes you feel good then you rock those mismatched patterns, those funky coloured socks or the bold lip colour.

5. Smile–the biggest key I think of being a fashionista is smiling. It is the best accessory anyone can wear.

6. Don’t Judge— style is about being who you want to be, so the rules are you can’t judge others for what they wear. You wouldn’t want someone to judge you for what you wear. Fashion is about empowering one another through the expression of clothes.

These are the only ones I could think of right now but I’m sure you can come up with so many more points on how to be a fashionista. Fashion is such a great thing. It’s a work of art that takes on a beautiful interactive form. I think it’s magical seeing a model walk down the cat walk and the lights hit them in the perfect places and the clothes take a life on their own. You ask yourself why the designer chose that colour, those patterns, that fabric. It’s all a mystery to me and I love it.

Just remember the rule: there are no rules about being who you want to be.